Jewish School Shooting: Sarkozy Vows To Hunt Down Killer After Third Toulouse Attack (PHOTOS)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared a day of "national tragedy" in France and schools and religious groups held services of solidarity after a gunman shot dead three children and a rabbi in Toulouse.

As the gunman remained on the loose police confirmed that a gun used in the shooting was the same as that used in three other recent murders in the region.

President Nicolas Sarkozy put south-western France on a "scarlet" terrorism alert for the first time in the country's history.

As children around the country travel to school, he said, guards will be on hand outside all faith-based institutions and Jewish and Muslim buildings.

A visibly moved Sarkozy said from Toulouse: "Barbarism, savagery, hate must not win. The Republic is much stronger than that.

"You cannot murder children like this on the territory of the Republic without being held to account

"I want to say to all the leaders of the Jewish community, how close we feel to them. All of France is by their side."

Socialist presidential candidate Francois Hollande, who is currently leading in most polls ahead of the first round on 22 April, said he wanted to show "solidarity with the families and France's Jewish community".

"This act, whose anti-Semitic nature is as obvious as it is despicable, hits what families hold most dear, their children, and plunges the entire nation into mourning," Hollande said in a statement.

Centrist candidate Francois Bayrou condemned the attack as a "premeditated horror with perverse and hateful intentions".

Far-right Candidate Marine Le Pen also suspended her campaign and said "the whole country is waiting impatiently for this serial killer to be found".

Police said that a man riding a black scooter or motorcycle pulled up outside the Ozar Hatorah Jewish high school at about 8am and fired on adults and children.

A Franco-Israeli teacher and rabbi was shot and killed, as were his two sons aged six and three. Another girl, reported to be the daughter of the school's principal, was also killed.

At least one other person was seriously injured in the shooting, reported to be a 17-year-old boy.

"This man alighted from his moped and, as he was outside the school, he shot at everything he could see, children or adults. Children were chased right into the school," said Toulouse prosecutor Michel Valet.

The attack has been linked with two attacks on soldiers in the area around Toulouse.

Two French paratroopers were shot in the town of Montauban, near Toulouse, on Friday, when a gunman on a black motorbike pulled up at a cash machine and opened fire, and another soldier in plain clothes was shot at point blank range by an assailant on a scooter on 11 March.

Police said a .45 calibre gun used in Monday's attack was the same as one used in the other two shootings.

With the killer still on the loose Interior Minister Claude Gueant said he will stay in Toulouse for as long as it takes to capture the person responsible.

A service to remember the victims was held at a local synagogue and there will be a silent march in Paris later this evening to commemorate the event.

Meanwhile across the globe religious and political leaders expressed solidarity and sadness with the people of Toulouse.

The Chief Rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim, said he was "horrified by what happened this morning in Toulouse". He said that he was "bruised in my body and my soul".

Israel said it was horrified by the shooting, and hoped the French authorities would "shed full light on this tragedy and bring the perpetrators to justice", while Pope Benedict XVI also offered his prayers in a statement.

Jonathan Hayoun, who leads the Jewish students union of France, said in a statement that "anti-Semitic and racist speech has created a climate of insecurity for Jews in France" and called for new security measures to be put in place.

Several other attacks on Jewish schools have been recorded in France in previous years.

In 2009 in Marseille aerosol cans soaked in petrol were thrown at a Jewish school, though nobody was injured, and in 2005 acid bottles were thrown at a Jewish school in Paris.

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Toulouse Shooting: Latest Pictures

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TOULOUSE, FRANCE - MARCH 19: School children are led away from the scene of a fatal shooting after a gunman opened fire outside the Ozar Hatorah school on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, France. Four people, including three children, have been killed and others injured after a gunman opened fire outside a Jewish school as parents dropped their children off for morning classes. (Photo by Gilles Bouquillon/Getty Images)

Policemen at work near the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France.

Policemen at work near the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France, where four people (three of them children), were killed and two seriously wounded when a gunman opened fire.

Policemen at work near the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse.

Policemen people near the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France.

Policemen and rescue units at work near the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France.

Policemen at work near the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France.

A student, second from left, is flanked by an unidentified woman and police officers as they leave a Jewish school after a gunman opened fire in Toulouse, southwestern France, Monday, March 19, 2012. A father and his two sons were among four people who died Monday when a gunman opened fire in front of a Jewish school in a city in southwest France, the Toulouse prosecutor said Monday. (AP Photo/Manu Blondeau)

School children and their parents leave a Jewish school after a gunman opened fire in Toulouse, southwestern France.

Police officers gather at the site of a shooting in Toulouse, southwestern France, Monday, March 19, 2012. A shooter opened fire in front of a Jewish school killing a number of people, the Toulouse prosecutor said Monday. (AP Photo/Bruno Martin)

TOULOUSE, FRANCE - MARCH 19: Rabbi Rav Gabriel speaks to the press to allow families through at the scene of a fatal shooting after a gunman opened fire outside the Ozar Hatorah school on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, France. Four people, including three children, have been killed and others injured after a gunman opened fire outside a Jewish school as parents dropped their children off for morning classes. (Photo by Gilles Bouquillon/Getty Images)

TOULOUSE, FRANCE - MARCH 19: Rabbi Rav Gabriel directs families through at the scene of a fatal shooting after a gunman opened fire outside the Ozar Hatorah school on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, France. Four people, including three children, have been killed and others injured after a gunman opened fire outside a Jewish school as parents dropped their children off for morning classes. (Photo by Gilles Bouquillon/Getty Images)

TOULOUSE, FRANCE - MARCH 19: School children are led away from the scene of a fatal shooting after a gunman opened fire outside the Ozar Hatorah school on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, France. Four people, including three children, have been killed and others injured after a gunman opened fire outside a Jewish school as parents dropped their children off for morning classes. (Photo by Gilles Bouquillon/Getty Images)

People are gathered near the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France, where four people (three of them children), were killed and two seriously wounded when a gunman opened fire. This is the third gun attack in a week by a man who fled on a motorbike. AFP PHOTO / ERIC CABANIS (Photo credit should read ERIC CABANIS/AFP/Getty Images)

TOULOUSE, FRANCE - MARCH 19: School children are comforted at the scene of a fatal shooting after a gunman opened fire outside the Ozar Hatorah school on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, France. Four people, including three children, have been killed and others injured after a gunman opened fire outside a Jewish school as parents dropped their children off for morning classes. (Photo by Gilles Bouquillon/Getty Images)

An unidentified man comforts schoolchildren as they leave their Jewish private school after a gunman opened fire killing several people in Toulouse, southwestern France, Monday, March 19, 2012. A father and his two sons were among four people who died Monday when a gunman opened fire in front of a Jewish school, the Toulouse prosecutor said Monday. (AP Photo/Manu Blondeau)

France's incumbent President and UMP ruling candidate for 2012 presidential election Nicolas Sarkozy (C), next to France's Education Minister Luc Chatel (3rd L), France's Jewish central Consistory Joel Mergui (2nd R) and Head of Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (Crif) Richard Pasquier (L) speaks in front of the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France, where four people (three of them children), were killed and two seriously wounded when a gunman opened fire. This is the third gun attack in a week by a man who fled on a motorbike. AFP PHOTO POOL / ERIC CABANIS (Photo credit should read ERIC CABANIS/AFP/Getty Images)

TOULOUSE, FRANCE - MARCH 19: Rabbi Rav Gabriel speaks to the press to allow families through at the scene of a fatal shooting after a gunman opened fire outside the Ozar Hatorah school on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, France. Four people, including three children, have been killed and others injured after a gunman opened fire outside a Jewish school as parents dropped their children off for morning classes. (Photo by Gilles Bouquillon/Getty Images)

TOULOUSE, FRANCE - MARCH 19: School children are led away from the scene of a fatal shooting after a gunman opened fire outside the Ozar Hatorah school on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, France. Four people, including three children, have been killed and others injured after a gunman opened fire outside a Jewish school as parents dropped their children off for morning classes. (Photo by Gilles Bouquillon/Getty Images)

Students comfort each other at the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school where a gunman opened fire killing four people in Toulouse, southwestern France, Monday, March 19, 2012. A father and his two sons were among four people who died Monday when a gunman opened fire in front of a Jewish school in a city in southwest France, the Toulouse prosecutor said Monday. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

French President and UMP party candidate for the 2012 presidential election Nicolas Sarkozy, center, speaks in front of the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school following a shooting incident, alongside France's Education Minister Luc Chatel, third from left, France's Jewish central Consistory Joel Mergui, second from right, and Head of Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF) Richard Pasquier, left, in Toulouse, southwestern France, Monday, March 19, 2012. A motorcycle gunman opened fire Monday in front of a Jewish school in the French city of Toulouse, killing a rabbi, his two small sons and one other child, the prosecutor's office said. (AP Photo/Eric Cabanis, Pool)

A policeman stands guard in front of a Jewish kinder garden, on March 19, 2012 in Paris, after French Interior Minister ordered security to be tightened around all French Jewish schools after an attack on one in Toulouse that left three dead. Four people (three of them children) were shot dead outside a Jewish school in southwestern France in the third gun attack in a week by a man who fled on a motorbike. AFP PHOTO KENZO TRIBOUILLARD (Photo credit should read KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images)

France's incumbent President and UMP ruling candidate for 2012 presidential election Nicolas Sarkozy (C), next to France's Education Minister Luc Chatel (2nd L), France's Jewish central Consistory Joel Mergui (2nd R) and Pierre Cohen (R), mayor of Toulouse, speaks in front of the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France, where four people (three of them children), were killed and two seriously wounded when a gunman opened fire. This is the third gun attack in a week by a man who fled on a motorbike. AFP PHOTO POOL / ERIC CABANIS (Photo credit should read ERIC CABANIS/AFP/Getty Images)

TOULOUSE, FRANCE - MARCH 19: School children are led away from the scene of a fatal shooting after a gunman opened fire outside the Ozar Hatorah school on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, France. Four people, including three children, have been killed and others injured after a gunman opened fire outside a Jewish school as parents dropped their children off for morning classes. (Photo by Gilles Bouquillon/Getty Images)